Band blade guide



Jan. 20, 1948. A. A. KOTTMANN ET Al. 2,434,884

BAND BLADE GUIDE Filed Jure 28, 1945 y/1F. l

INVENTORS .1-th ur Kaitmann Fred Rohlfing BY m4 v 750e 7,

' ATTORNEYS Patented Jan. 20, 1948 Uniti-.ao PArENr oli-Fics -BANDilBLADE `Arthur Kottmann and Fred TRohl-ng, Davenport, Iowa, assig-norsto lhe 4Bettendori? Ccmpany, ettendorlbwa, af emortttioniof iMaxiy-"This invention r'elates'to breadsli'ci-ng machines of the band bladetype 'and more particiilarly A'to 'the band blade guides that`straighten and :guide 'thetwisted 'crossing blades 'of such machinesadjacent' the 4points where the bladescross 'and that ralso lserve toguide fthe bread VIca-ves across the *crossingblades- Y The inventionhas iforitsobj ect `"to-provide vblade v'guides which are sovff'orrrie'd that wear -on vthe guides and upon the slicer blades 'islessened.

-A vfurtlfier-ohject"is to lso form blade guides that Aare adjustable"to vary the Athickness A"of `slices lthat accumulationscfcrumbsbetweenithe guides will not interfere with adjustments of theyguides.

fAn 'additional lobject is 'to provide easily 41re placeable 'guides forindividual slicer blades, ieach comprising a 'carrier and a 'pair offingers 'de tachably and rigidly yfastened Lto the barrier.

With the above 'and other objects iinview, the 'invention Amay be said"to comprise blade guides as illustrated in Athe 'accompanying drawings,hereinafter *described and particularly set Iforth `in the appendedclaims, together with such variations and 'modifications thereof as'will be `apparent Eto Vone skilled in the art "to which the inventionpertains.

Reference should be Lhadto the Aaccomna'nying vdrawings 4forrning'aApart of Athis specification, in

which:

Fig. 1 is a 'fragmentary side 'elevation 'of the bread-slicing machine'embodying the invention.

Fig. `2 is a fragmentary rear Aelevation of the 'Slicer viewed 'as5indicated V'at 2*-2 in lFig. 4"1;

Fig. 3 shows a guideinsi'de elevation;

Fig. 4" is atop'plan view ofthe-guide;

`Fig. -6 is a `section 'taken on the ii-ne indicated at '-iiiinFgfS3Fig. 7 'is a section 'taken Y'on -theiine indicated at 1--1 kin Fig. 3;

Fig. 58 shows ya *guide Lof modi-'tied "construction in side elevation;

Fig. '9 is Laftop'planview of the guide shown in This. 8;

Fig. .1Q Lis a :section taken 4on the :line :indicat- =ed at 'Ml-1H)inFig. 8, 'and Ilingfinachineisa wellkncwnltyce, the drums over whichthe'blfades il and 2'run vhave 'not been shown. Lhcaves te 'be slicedare delivered .tothe 'crossing 'portionsfcif th'ebl'a'd'es through aguideway 3 'that @terminates iin upper 'and 'lower sets 'of `blade'guides ii ithat Vform continuation's of 'the guideway :for 'directing"the 'loaves VAoas't 'the 'slic'er blades, the fguides havings'uitable'blade receiving slots for lstra'ighten'irig the blad'e's and."g'uidin'g the Ipor 'tions thereof passing through 'fthe lbreadzloaves. Each-blade -lguide 4 receives 'asingle blade :and 'is attachedto a carrier Bforming fpart of .a blade adjusting mechanism `l by meansof which v"the fcarriers and guides .may :be simultaneously adjusted tovary theffspacing :of the guides The particular form fof 'blade'adjusting .mechanism employed Ais lnot of importance in so far as the#present `Tinvention iis concerned, but Y'may `'be a rnechariismvsu'chlas described 2in the IKottrnann et Lal. Patenti-22913310, grantedOctober 6, 1942.

-ifachguide Jl ihas a shank portion f'l 1vior `attachrnent to a-fcar-rier 5 that is vprovidedwith a screw 'hole 8. Each'guide has'-ngers i9 and 'I0 spaced apart to stradale l'a blade, 'the fingerspreferably tapering 1lfrom their 'inner attached ends to Vtheir -o'uterends land lbei-ng channel shaped in cross section. "-Ihe fingers `9 and'10 are arranged back to back 'with l'their 'channels facing outwardly,the -ehannels being formed between Aflanges 'H fand fil-2 at the innerfand cuter edges of "the'rlne gers. The inner flanges Il aredisposedfat'right angles to the body portion or the .ngerfand haveAJflat#external fiaces I3 upon which loaves of bread are guided.f'lheouterlflang-es ft2 are obtusesingle dianges with curved outer facesi4. The inner Yportier-is 415 Jof 'the vinner ifaice's `of 'the ngersare iii-at land parall'el to Jguide the portions olf `the 'bla-desf'ex'tending Iacross ithe loaf guidewa'y and 'to 'hold these 'portions`of l'the blade against 'twist- 'in-g. 'The filange 'faces |14 formflaring outer portions l'for the iblade guideway which .cause bladesentering the guideway to be gradually straight"y fened and whichfpe'rmit the gradual twisting of olades `-passing out-of theguide.

ns show-nlm Figs. `5 ito 7., 'the'nger s may :be formed integrally withthe shank 1 and theiinlger il 0 detachablyfsecuredfto fingere. .-Apositionling fshouider i6 Sis ormed on vthe shank Aalong- .side Ithe:inner fend of the linger 9 'against which the inneren-d :oi/.finger Itiis seated, and the finger lll is secured to the nger 9 by means tof ascrew il. The desired spacing fof `=the 'ngers is obtained -by imeans ci@a 'sh-im lf3 interposed between itne inner rends Aof the lingers, theshim fbeinghel'din rpl'ace by tth'e screw lil which passes through thefingers and shim. The spacing of the inner portions of the lingers 9 andl0 is slightly greater than the thickness of the slicer blade andparallel faces of the fingers serve to hold the portion of the bladepassing through the loaf guideway against twisting movements.

By providing the flaring faces I4 at the outer edges of the slots, theblades entering the slots through the flaring portions are graduallyguided from their twisted to a straight position and the blades passingout through the flaring portions of the slots are permitted to flexlaterally before they leave the guide slots This flaring mouth slotconstruction reduces the pressure between the faces of the blades andthe faces of the guide members and reduces the wear on both the bladesand the guide ngers.

Where adjustable blade guides are provided with fiat side faces, crumbscompressed between' the guides are likely to adhere to the faces of theguide and to accumulate to an extent such that they prevent the guidesfrom being moved close together. By providing channels in the outerfaces of the guides and leaving these channels open at the outer ends ofthe guides, pockets are provided for the crumbs in which the crumbs canaccumulate and gradually pass down toward the open outer ends of theguide fingers. This prevents the crumbs from being mashed against facesof the guide lingers and avoids the formation of glutinous accumulationswhich interfere with adjustment of the blades.

In Figs. 8 to 1l of the drawings, a slightly modified form of guide isshown. In this form a shank 20 has two identical ngers 2l and 22attached thereto, the fingers 2| and 22 being of substantially the samecross Sectional shape as the fingers 9 and I0 and being provided withedge flanges lla and IZa corresponding to the flanges il and I2. In thismodification however the flanges Ila and 12a extend the full length ofthe fingers and the flange I2a has an inner end portion 23 parallel tothe inner flange Ila. The shank 20 has spaced projecting flanges 24 towhich the fingers 2l and 22 are attached. The fingers are insertedbetween the flanges 24 with the flanges 24 fitting within the inner endsof the channels in the outer faces of the lingers and with the innerends of the flanges Ila and I 2a, engaging shoulders 25 and 26 formed onthe shank 2D.

A spacing shim 2l may be placed between the fingers 2l and 22 and thelingers may be secured in place by means of a bolt 28 having a head 29that seats in a countersink in one of the flanges 24 and a nut 3B thatseats in the countersink in the other flange 2t. A nut 3l) may extendinto an opening 3l in one of the fingers as shown in Fig. 11. When thebolt 28 is tightened fianges 24 are sprung into tight engagement withthe inner ends of the fingers rigidly clamping the fingers in place.

By providing fingers detachably secured to the carriers, worn or damagedfingers can be readily replaced without disturbing the adjustingmechanism.

It is to be understood that variations and modifications of the specificdevices herein shown and described for purposes of illustration, may bemade without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What we claim is:

1. In a bread slicing machine having twisted crossing blades that travelin opposite directions, a loaf guideway comprising a plurality of bladeguides disposed on opposite sides of the crossing points of the blades,said guides having fiat inner loaf guiding faces and parallel bladereceiving slots, the opposite sides of each slot being fiat and paralleladjacent the flat inner face of the guide and spaced apart a distancebut slightly greater than the thickness of the blades to providerelatively close clearance between the guides and the blades, said slotshaving flaring outer portions forming tapering guide surfaces for theentry or exit of the twisted blades, the opposing faces of adjacentguides being shaped to provide registering longitudinal crumb channels,each occupying the major portion of the width of the guide and beingopen at its outer end to facilitate discharge of crumbs by gravity.

2. In a bread slicing machine having twisted crossing blades that travelin opposite directions, a downwardly inclined loaf guideway comprising aplurality of blade guides disposed on opposite sides of the crossingpoints of the blades, each guide comprising a carrier mounted forrelative lateral adjustment and a pair of detachably connected fingerssecured at their upper ends to the carrier and adapted to straddle aband blade with relatively narrow clearance, each finger having edgeflanges forming a longitudinal channel in its outer face that is open atits lower end.

3. In a bread slicing machine having twisted crossing blades that travelin opposite directions, a downwardly inclined loaf guideway comprising aplurality of blade guides disposed on opposite sides of the crossingpoints of the blades, each guide comprising a carrier mounted forrelative lateral adjustment and a pair of fingers that are channelshaped in cross section, secured at their upper ends to said carrierback to back to provide a blade guiding slot to receive a blade withrelatively narrow clearance, the outer edges of the flanges of thechannels lying in the planes of the side faces of the carriers, and thechannels being open at the lower ends of the lingers.

tl. In a bread slicing machine having twisted crossing blades thattravel in opposite directions, a downwardly inclined loaf guideway thatincludes a plurality of adjustably mounted blade guides mounted onopposite sides of the crossing points of the blades, each guidecomprising a carrier and a pair of fingers detachably secured to thecarrier and adapted to straddle a band blade, each of said lingershaving flanges along opposite sides thereof that form a channel in itsouter face that is open at the lower end of the linger, one flange beinga right angled flange with a fiat outer face and the other an obtuseangled flange with a curved outer face, said lingers being secured tothe carrier back to back with the right angled flanges facing thecrossing point of the blades to form a loaf guideway.

5. In a bread slicing machine having twisted crossing band blades thattravel in opposite d1- rections, a blade straightening guide disposed ata downward inclination adjacent the crossing point of the blades, saidblade guide having a fiat loaf guiding inner edge facing said crossingpoint and a blade receiving slot the opposite sides of which are fiatand parallel adjacent said at inner edge and the outer portions of whichare flaring, the inner portions of the slot being of a width butslightly greater than the thickness of the blade and the outer portionsof the slot forming a tapering guide for the entry or exit of a twistedblade, each outer face of said guide having flanges along its upper andlower edges extending to the lower end thereof and forming a,longitudinal channel open at its lower end.

UNITED STATES PATENTS ARTHUR A. KOTTMANN. Number Name Date FREDROHLFING- 2,181,233 Hartman Nov. 2s, 1939 5 2,150,427 Criner Mar. 14,1939 REFERENCES @MED 1 2,208,834 armer July 23, 1940 The followingreferences are of record in the 2,294,927 Nebuhr Sept. 8, 1942 le ofthis patent: 2,375,231 Kottmann May 8, 1945

